Epiphany of the Vague Road
by RenaEstela
Summary: [KradDark] After all, when passing into this new light he would be leaving the dark behind. [Rated for language]
1. I

**Warnings:** This story contains shounen-ai and possible yaoi later on. Currently rated for language. Rating may go up in later chapters.

**A/N: **_I'm sure all of you reading in the Krad/Dark fandom have noticed a particular pattern in slave stories. Dark usually tends to be very submissive and prone to looking and acting very much like a beat up puppy. I wanted to do something different. Sure, Dark is still going to have a very angsty slave history but he'll be able to handle it better with a little more macho. [;_

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Dark ran his grime-covered fingers through his lack-luster hair; hands gray beyond being identifiable as human body parts, he glared at them before walking to the other end of the cell. Pressing his soiled forehead against the icy, prison bars, he stared dejectedly through the cage like hold that confined slaves like himself. The same expression could be read in his fellows' eyes; stories of constant abuse and brutal beatings were common tales spoken amongst the enslaved. The only hope that they could keep hold of was the anticipation that their next master could only be less cruel then the previous one. Dark's attention fell on the pair currently occupying the cell with him. Both heatedly whispered of the experiences they lived through with their formal masters. His amethyst eyes soon lost interest and he returned them to the scene that lay in front of him. 

Pair after pair, dozen after dozen, of emotionless eyes stared past at him. Their owners sitting stiffly against the cold, concrete walls behind them or huddled up in small groups trying to preserve the little body warmth that flowed between them.

A sudden burst of light encased the room with hues of white and yellows; but the abrupt illumination was anything but comforting, it offered nothing but false hope which all slaves eventually lost faith in. Dismal looks followed the footfalls of the man, who had broken the stillness of the room, as he sauntered step by step through the line of cells, evaluating the captives with an expression of jeering mockery. Some clustered even harder against the rough walls while others tentatively stood up and waited at the front of their enclosures; their bare hands holding resolutely to the only thing that barricaded them from their fate.

"Hurry it up will you, you bastard." A cool voice cut through the deafness in the air and stopped the intruder in his steps. The man's beady eyes settled to linger on the face and lips of whom the words had come from. Dark's wine-colored eyes continued to stare ahead at the concrete wall behind the nervous glances of those across from him; his gaze remained there even as the man placed himself in front of Dark's view.

Miffed by the fact that the slave heeded him no mind, the figure shot his arm between the bars and encircled Dark's thin neck in a firm grasp. Roughly tilting the captive's intent look into his own, the man chuckled maliciously as Dark struggled to return the gaze as his lung capacity quickly depleted.

"Cheeky one, aren't you," the man remarked as Dark's pupils began to lose focus, "exactly the more reason to get you out of here." Pulling Dark closer to him, the slave's cheeks pushed between the cold bars, the man inspected Dark's face closely. "Quite pretty as well, why if I had the money I'd purchase you for myself!" he said with a snicker. With a shove, the man released his captive's neck; Dark took a moment to regain breath before staring at the man with an expression of pure loathing.

"Fuck you."

Dark laughed grimly as the man's face twisted into a look of fury.

"How dare you insolent little-"

"…scoundrel? Bastard? Low-life nothing?" Dark retorted as he held a resolute glare with the man. "Take your pick of word, or is your empty brain too dumbfounded to even do so?"

Letting out a mangled sound of fiery, the man quickly unlocked the door to the cell, shoving it open before taking brutal hold of Dark's violet locks.

"Now you listen here boy," the man ground out as he yanked on Dark's hair, forcing the slave to balance on his toes, "you were bred to serve those higher than you." Exerting all his force, the man threw the slim body against the gray walls of the cell. "You were born a bitch. You're mother was a bitch. And hell your father was probably one to." Dark mustered the rest of his strength to pull himself up against the wall; brusquely he wiped off a trickle of blood running down the corner of his mouth. The man took advantage of Dark's weakened state to snap a rusted, metal cuff around his ankle. Leaning against the wall, eyes brimming with malevolent feeling, Dark studied the chains that now connected his ankle to the hold of the man.

Now that his jailbird had been efficiently tied down the man relinquished the air of superiority that confined him from fully studying the slave's body. Dark could feel the man's gaze eventually make its way down his figure; shooting a look of utter abhorrence toward his captor, Dark stood his ground and faked no mind to the man's evaluation. After all, it was not the first time he had fallen subject to another man's interest.

"What's the hold up, Bertram?" a voice called from behind the ever flowing stream of light.

"It's nothing!" the man replied gruffly, "I'm just dealing with a...naughty slave." The man whispered the last words with a tone of such perverseness that Dark looked the other way, avoiding any possible eye contact. Finally, the man curtly jerked Dark into a full standing position and began his way through the room, this time, leading Dark out with him.

Dark could sense the pairs of eyes following his path down the aisle of cells but kept his head determinedly facing ahead. Not knowing what kind of world this new doorway would lead him to, Dark's only thoughts were of what he'd leave behind. After all, when passing into this new light he would be leaving the dark behind.


	2. II

**Warnings:** This story contains shounen-ai and possible yaoi later on. Currently rated for language. Rating may go up in later chapters.

**A/N: **_Gomenasai for the very, very, late update. X One of my New Year's resolutions will be to get these chapters up faster. Please enjoy the smexxiness which is Dark! _

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Blinking away the white spots that appeared with stepping into the light, Dark shuffled slowly through the doorway. He could make out the stage that many slaves, including himself, would soon be stepping onto to be sold. The slave currently in the spotlight was huddled on the floor, shaking uncontrollably as the auctioneer whipped his back, trying to get him to stand; each crack of the whip left a new bloodied line on his flesh. With each whack, Dark's amethyst eyes narrowed as the adolescent's back became a palette of vibrant red.

Abruptly, Dark's attention was averted as his captor gave him one last kick in the back before handing his chains over to a much larger, bulkier man.

"Finally, Bertram, I was about to go in there to drag you out."

"Heh, I wouldn't be talking, Rod. These things are just asking you to screw them." Bertram retorted, shooting a vicious smirk in Dark's direction.

Rod peered down where Dark was doubled over; Dark could smell a crass odor pouring out of the man's mouth, a mixture of warm beer and human grime. As Rod's gaze bore into him, Dark slowly pulled himself up and lifted his violet eyes to bear them into Rod's pitch black ones.

"You're right…this one is cute." Rod offhandedly told Bertram, though he kept his eyes securely on Dark's.

"Ugh, you sicken me." Dark snapped. Rod's wandering eyes froze as Dark's words struck him; his brows instantly furrowed and with a whack of his hand, a fresh, new bruise marred Dark's cheekbone. Dark's eyebrows twitched in irritation and unconsciously he took a step forward. Rod had expected his reaction and stood in a defensive position, knuckles bulging as he clenched his fists to his sides. The two men stared each other down; albeit one was half the size of the other. Taking another stride forward, Dark raised a fist half-way in position; the two other men awaited his next action. With a shaky shudder, Dark dropped his clenched fist. He lowered his swirling purple eyes, calming the rage that they had held, and backed down.

"What's the matter?" Rod provoked. "Not man enough to take a swing? But that's understandable; you're nothing but a fucking slave."

"No man, slave or not, should waste a drop of energy on someone with the likes of you."

Rod viciously yanked on Dark's restraining chains, forcing him to the ground, and gave a hard kick to his side. Violet locks fell across his jaded eyes as Dark contemplated the extent of power he still possessed; reality took its toll again and Dark shut his eyelids, burying his nose into the dirt floor.

"Serves him right," Rod spat. "Being cheeky gets you nowhere. You slaves just stay quiet; protest only in bed, as your masters slowly fuck the shit out of you." With that, similar grins spread across both men's faces, as they imagined scenarios where Dark was recipient of their sinful acts.

"Next up!" a voice called from the stage. The two slave retainers smirked and Rod yanked on the chain linked to Dark's ankle. Slowly, Dark rose from the bronzed ground, his eyes holding a newly dimmed gloss, adding on to the already engraved mark of a slave. He allowed himself to be wordlessly towed to the stage and handed to the announcer. Scores of oooo's and ahhhh's emitted from the large crowd; Dark remained un-fazed through it all.

"A fine specimen isn't he? So let's not dawdle folks! We start the bidding at 10,000 yen." (1)The man's booming, obnoxious voice rang through Dark's ears and he resisted his urge to evil-eye him. Instead, he turned to face the mass of bidder's who'd conspicuously grew since his appearance on stage. Observing the auctioning with unyielding eyes, a smirk bit-by-bit drew across his face; the auctioneer hastily went through the ranks of people, each one bidding notches higher than the last. When the offers had come down to the last few individuals, Dark's price tag ranged in the mid-600,000's. A round-ish woman, who had been a rowdy bidder through the whole process, placed a bid of 700,000 which was met with exchanges of defeated sighs. Dark winced when the announcer called the crowd for any takers and was met with silence.

"Come now folks…" I can't seriously be going home with this fat lady.

"…any last takers?" Stupid, stupid god I don't deserve this.

"Going once!" Dark shot the lady a glare as she stood amidst the assembly with a proud grin on her face.  
"Going twice!" Shit, she better not take me to bed with her.

"Sol--"

"One million yen."

A collective gasp was let off as the group searched amongst themselves for the new bidder.

"Over there!" a little boy called and pointed to the back rows of the mass. Coolly, a young, white-suited man surfaced from the crowd; everyone pulled-back and made way for the newcomer as he made his way up to the stage. Dark retained his composure as he debated whether he would've rather had the fat lady.

"M-Mr. Hikari?" the auctioneer inquired as the figure approached the podium.

"A Hikari?!" Dark thought out-loud for the first time in the duration of the auction. The slave keepers were too stupefied to issue a reprimand.

Krad removed his glasses and unperturbedly shot Dark a scrutinizing look.

"I'm here to claim my prize." For a second, no one moved a hair's breath and suddenly, the crowd was whispering amongst themselves and the stage managers bustling about barking orders at each other.

Dark turned and openly gaped at his new master though the Hikari was obviously tending to more pressing matters as he was seen walking away with a similar dressed man.

"Let's go boy!" Rod barked as he jerked Dark off stage. "This ain't supposed to be a compliment; but I've never seen any bidding go so high before." Handing Dark's chain to Hikari's slave keeper, Rod whispered. "Now I don't really care what happens to you kid, but you should know that this Hikari guy is trouble. Sure, he's never returned a slave to us; but that's sorta the scary part." Before Dark could offer a brutal defense, Rod had disappeared into the massive throng back-stage.

He felt a gentle tug on his ankle as his retainer prodded him towards a gleaming, black truck. Other recently purchased slaves were already seated in the trunk. (2) Most could care less about the hustle he had created and refused to budge as he climbed on the truck.

"Bastards…" Dark mumbled audibly as he resorted to sitting on the edge of the trunk. He contemplated an easy escape before the keeper came back and snapped his bonds onto the truck.

"Bastard!" Dark called after the retainer; the man paid him no mind and stepped into the driver's seat of the car. The engine started and the slave-loaded vehicle pulled away from the market.

As they sped down a dirt road, Dark moodily glared at the moving landscape. His thoughts frequently turned to and pondered on his new owner. He knew why a Hikari would buy a long-time rival's offspring for a slave but there was no way he could've known Dark was of descent. Dark smirked grimly and silently promised his new master that he would regret this day for the rest of his life.

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**(1) **Don't know much about the money exchange rate from US to Japan sooo just know that our bishy bishounen costs quite a large sum.

**(2)** You know like one of those Ford trucks with an unsheltered trunk/back thing. Great to ride in though I believe it's illegal now X.


End file.
